1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to detecting systems and, more particularly, to an improved radioactivity distribution detection system provided with a data link that effectively shields a subject under diagnosis from the potentially harmful effects of electrical leakage currents.
2. The Prior Art
Radioactivity distribution detection systems of the kind for determining the location and distribution of radioactive material injected in diagnostic amounts into a human body have been in clinical use for sometime. These systems employ an array of scintillators for sensing radioactive events within the body, most notably in the heart, and a plurality of detectors for detecting the sensed events. Electronic data signals generated by the plurality of detectors first ar processed in front-end electronics and accumulated and stored in a buffer memory. Following the accumulation period, the accumulated data in raw digital form are transmitted over electrical cables linking the buffer memory to a computer of a processing console. In the console, these data are processed to provide a pictorial representation of the distribution and of the relative radioactive event levels detected by the scintillators.
The electrical cables linking the buffer memory to the computer however, also establish an open electrical connection between the processing console and the scintillators and detectors, exposing thus the subject under diagnosis to the potentially harmful effects of leakage currents emanating from the console. The electrical cables also impose a practical limit on the distance by which the processing console can be physically separated from the scintillators and detectors, without utilizing special drives down the cable. The electrical cables further add to the weight and bulk of these systems.